Slaughter’s Hound by Declan Burke (Book Review)

Once a man finds himself out in the badlands, out beyond rule and law and custom, who knows what anyone might do?

Back in Sligo after spending four years in a psychiatric hospital in Dundrum for shooting his brother, former private investigator Harry Rigby now finds himself driving a cab in order to make a meager living. He also acts as the middle man for drug deals, which is how Rigby comes to be at the Port Authority building where his former roommate in Dundrum, Finn Hamilton, broadcasts a pirate radio station.

Finn’s ordered up a tidy delivery of dope, enough to cause Rigby to wonder if Finn’s selling it on. Finn assures him it’s for personal use, that he’s laying in stock because he and his fianceé are running off to Cyprus. It may sound like a pipe dream coming from some, but Finn’s from a very wealthy family, even if their property empire has taken a hit of late in the bottomed out real estate market. Finn, it seems, is on top of the world.

Which is why Rigby is stunned to see Finn take a dive out the building’s ninth floor window as Rigby’s in the parking lot taking a call from his son. Thankfully, Rigby chose to wander around while on the call instead of sitting in his cab, as Finn’s graceful dive is brutally interrupted by the cab’s roof, the impact of which ruptures the gas tank and causes an explosion. After calling the authorities, Rigby heads out to inform Finn’s mother, feeling he owes it to her as both Finn’s friend and the only witness.

And thus Rigby is plunged into an increasing complex situation, one in which he’s in the crosshairs of everyone from the police, who think he’s responsible for Finn’s death, to the Hamilton family, who enlist Rigby to search for some kind of suicide note, to Finn’s fianceé, whom Finn’s mother blames for Finn’s suicide, to the dealer who doesn’t care the drugs went up in flames, he just wants his money. At first merely frustrating, as Rigby pokes—and is poked—around it becomes increasingly clear that something far more sinister is going on than simply a suicide.

Slaughter’s Hound is yet another “How the hell does he do that?” offering from author Declan Burke, whose book Absolute Zero Cool has already secured a spot on my Top 10 Reads of 2012 list. More than just a crime fiction/noir novel, Slaughter’s Hound vividly brings to life the post investment boom hangover much of Ireland is experiencing, personified by the Hamilton family. Once obscenely wealthy, the family is now teetering on financial ruin and, as Rigby learns, also has some incredibly dark secrets stashed away in the closet along with the skeletons. Lead by its ice princess matriarch, Saoirse, the Hamiltons add a Shakespearean level of drama to Slaughter’s Hound, complete with a conniving attorney.

The story which unfolds in Slaughter’s Hound is a beautiful balance of tremendous heart and horrific violence, both embodied by Rigby. He’s not lead an easy life, and many of the hardest choices he’s had to make were done with the well-being of others in mind, even at his own expense. First and foremost among those others is his twelve-year-old son, Ben. It’s an extremely complicated relationship that Rigby has with his son – made even more so by his separation from Ben’s mother and a question of whether Ben is even actually his – but Rigby is willing to go to the wall for Ben. Which is why a pivotal event involving Ben about two thirds of the way through the book signals the start of a downward spiral of violence which ushers Slaughter’s Hound through to its clever, open-ended conclusion.

As a reader, I’m always hoping, at the very least, to be entertained. Slaughter’s Hound goes well beyond that, however. There’s a weight to Burke’s prose that gives his writing an impact beyond the realm of mere entertainment. Done with a skill so subtle you almost don’t realize it, Burke imparts such a powerful sense of time and place in Slaughter’s Hound that it brings with it a sense of enlightenment as well as entertainment. He’s not just telling a story, but sharing a part of Ireland in the process. It’s a quite powerful journey, actually, one I highly encourage you to experience for yourself.